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19: Responsible Minister must present copy of report on operation of Act to House of Representatives
or “Minister must share Privacy Act report with Parliament”

You could also call this:

“Privacy Commissioner must work independently when making decisions”

You have a special person called the Privacy Commissioner. This Commissioner has an important job to do, and they need to do it without anyone telling them what to do.

When the Commissioner is doing their work under this law or any other law that talks about what they should do, they must make their own choices. They can’t let anyone else decide for them.

This means the Commissioner has to think for themselves and do what they believe is right, based on the rules they’re given. They can’t let other people or groups push them around or tell them how to do their job.

Remember, this rule doesn’t apply when the Commissioner is working under a law called the Crown Entities Act 2004. For that law, there might be different rules about how the Commissioner should work.

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Next up: 21: Commissioner to have regard to certain matters

or “Commissioner must balance privacy with other important factors when making decisions”

Part 2 Privacy Commissioner
Functions of Privacy Commissioner

20Duty to act independently

  1. The Commissioner must act independently in performing statutory functions and duties, and exercising statutory powers, under—

  2. this Act; and
    1. any other Act that expressly provides for the functions, powers, or duties of the Commissioner (other than the Crown Entities Act 2004).
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